Jese Rodriguez To Provide A Needed Spark At Stoke City?

Early Wednesday morning saw the Potters announce the season-long loan signing of Spanish forward Jesé Rodríguez from French side PSG.

The 24-year-old has had little impact since his big move to the French capital for £21m a year ago, only starting 14 games and scoring two goals.

Jesé had been linked with a loan move to then Premier League outfit Middlesbrough in January before joining Las Palmas for the remainder of the season, scoring three times in 16 appearances.

With poster boy Neymar Jr now part of Les Parisiens, PSG coach Unai Emery has decided to let his fellow countryman go back out on loan to rediscover the form he produced during his days at Real Madrid.

The signing is Stoke City’s sixth of the summer after the likes of Bruno Martins Indi, Kurt Zouma and Darren Fletcher have joined the Staffordshire club.

So where has it gone wrong for the Spaniard’s development?

Back in 2014, he suffered a cruciate ligament rupture while playing for Real Madrid against Schalke, with the culprit of that injury being Arsenal’s early fan favourite Sead Kolašinac who’s tackle kept Jesé out for nearly nine months.

Jesé himself has pinpointed that the injury had a significant impact on his progression to becoming of the Europe’s best talents.

Back in February of this year, he told MARCA “It is not an excuse, it is a reality that the injury I had was a brake on my career, both in football and in my personal life, and from there I’ve lost a lot.

To have continuity, to play, to feel more secure and more comfortable, is difficult.”

Can he get the game time he needs at Stoke?

Once again, the Potters have snatched at the opportunity to bring in a major European name to a side which performed under expectation in 2016/17 and will be hoping that Jesé can provide Mark Hughes’s men with a much-needed spark.

With the signing of Jesé, Stoke incredibly now boasts five Champions League winners in their squad, more than any other side in the league.

Providing he can stay fit for as much of the season as possible, it is likely that Jesé will get opportunities under Mark Hughes as the deal only lasts for one year, and could line up with Xherdan Shaqiri, Bojan Krkić and Saido Berahino in attack.

The Premier League is going to provide a new challenge for the Spaniard and will test whether the forward can cope with the requirements of the English game.

Fellow big names such as Xherdan Shaqiri, Bojan Krkić and Ibrahim Afellay have been underwhelming since joining The Potters as inconsistent form and injuries have plagued their progress to shine at the Britannia Stadium.

With just one season to prove himself, Jesé needs to avoid these setbacks if he is to regain the confidence he had back in his early Real Madrid days and make a statement of intent that PSG hasn’t wasted their investment into him.